Community Seeks ZF Help for Water Crisis

During the visit of Zakat Foundation of America (ZF) executive director Halil Demir to Bangladesh, a delegation traveled almost 250 miles from their village in the district of Satkhira to ask for help with an ongoing water crisis.

Satkhira was struck by Cyclone Aila in 2009, which contaminated the local fresh water sources with salt water. The water is also high in arsenic and unsafe for drinking. The delegation asked ZF to help them pipe in fresh water from a nearby area, bringing safe drinking water to 50,000 people. They committed to maintaining the water pipes once ZF makes the initial investment.

Mr. Demir assured them that ZF is eager to support an issue so crucial for the health and wellbeing of people in that region, and promised that representatives will visit Satkhira to get the project started.

One of the reasons Mr. Demir was able to make that promise was the support he received on meeting with the director general of the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Affairs Bureau, Mr. Nurun Nabi Talukdar. The NGO Affairs Bureau supervises the activities of foreign NGOs working in Bangladesh and provides all necessary permission on behalf of the government. Mr. Talukdar and Mr. Demir met before the Satkhira delegation arrived. Mr. Talukdar thanked Mr. Demir for the work ZF does in Bangladesh, and committed to supporting ZF whenever needed in the future.

Mr. Talukdar went so far as to express his admiration of ZF and his interest in donating a piece of land in his village so that ZF could build a boarding school or orphan center.

But none of the lifesaving programs that ZF is conducting in Bangladesh are possible without your generous support. Your donation can make a tremendous difference in the lives of some of the world’s poorest people.